Who Is Helpful? Examining the Relationship Between Ambivalent Sexism, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and Intentions to Help Domestic Violence Victims

Abstract

When victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims seek help from informal supporters (e.g., family, friends, etc.), they are often revictimized and blamed. The Supportive Attitudes Toward Victim Scale (SAVS) was developed to examine others’ intentions to help IPV victims. A factor analysis was conducted and four subscales of the SAVS were developed. A fictional scenario depicting a female IPV victim disclosing about being being abused by her male partner was adminsitered online to a sample of 184 college students. The study included two conditions (i.e., victim’s decision to stay with her abuser and victim’s decision to leave her abuser) to which participants were randomly assigned. Particpants completed several questionannires including the SAVS. The relationships between benevolent sexism (BS), hostile sexism (HS), right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and intentions to help IPV victims were examined. Additionally, how victim blame varied by gender and scenario was also measured. BS, HS, and RWA were predictive of different SAVS subscales, and the victim was blamed more by males and in the scenario where the victim decided to stay with her abuser. Implications for IPV intervention research and programs are discussed.